"That's a deal breaker," McKenna said. "They want title, but they only want to pay nine-tenths of what it's worth."

Mayor Mike Smith said the Village Board, which made the offer to avoid any delay in developing the New Lenox Commons area, will try to work out a solution.

The original written offer to the Park Board earlier this month called for the village to take over payments on the park land, improve it and give them a chance to buy it back, Smith said.

But the Park Board's rejection is "not the end of it," Smith said. "We want to see the Commons go through."

McKenna is willing to keep talking too. "We will still entertain offers from the village," he said.

The original plan for the New Lenox Commons, a tract of land south of U.S. Highway 30 and north of the Village Hall on Haven Avenue, called for the Village Board, Park Board and Library Board to share the cost of improving the land with roadways, utility lines, lighting and landscaping.

But the Park District could not pay its share after voters rejected a funding request last year.

Construction on infrastructure and a new library are slated to begin this spring. Smith said bids for the infrastructure work will be out in about 45 days.

The project will go forward no matter what, he said.

"Personalities and everything else aside, we want to get the infrastructure working this summer, which we're going to do one way or another," the mayor said.

But a deal with the Park District is preferred. "We want them in there. They're part of the community," Smith said.